1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to a clamping apparatus for securing a panel, particularly a door, to a stationary or mobile carriage.
2. Description of Related Art
Note that the following discussion refers to a number of publications by author(s) and year of publication, and that due to recent publication dates certain publications are not to be considered as prior art vis-a-vis the present invention. Discussion of such publications herein is given for more complete background and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are prior art for patentability determination purposes.
Methods and devices for securing panels to carriages are known. Wheeled carriages are used in the construction field to transport and install such panels as doors. The most basic approach is to use a strap to secure the panel against the frame of the wheeled carriage. However, strapping a panel takes too much time, strapping a wide panel requires the aid of a second person, and straps weaken with time and are inherently elastic so that they are not very secure.
Other devices, such as that disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/116,470, Publication No. 2003/0190219, are designed to hold and move doors to aid in attaching them to doorways. Such devices do not provide an easy and economical means for doing so because they, as does patent application Ser. No. 10/116,470, incorporate the door holding means as part of the transportation carriage. Therefore, the carriages tend to be complex and expensive devices dedicated to moving and holding doors or other panels. Further, the holding means tend to damage door faces.
The prior art does not provide for a simple and economical, yet highly effective, method of securing a panel to a carriage. An apparatus is needed that can be attached to any number of carriers or surfaces to which a panel is to be secured.